No results to post, as a week ago at this time I was in Mexico.
(See the category archive for other results.)
Pool 31, Pool 32, and Pool 33 are all still open.
Pool 35 should go up Mondayish.
As usual, I let a pseudorandom number generator choose six episodes, then post my on-the-spot rankings and observation. You comment, ideally with your own rankings. A week later I post my revised rankings, reserving the right to be autocratic (though in practice I almost always go with the consensus).
Numbers...
102: 1F21 (SI-521 / S05E21) Lady Bouvier's Lover
Grampa Simpson falls in love with Marge's mother, Jackie, but Mr. Burns woos her away from him. Grampa is broken hearted when learning Jackie is going to marry Burns.
325: FABF07 (SI-1507 / S15E12) Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Milhouse and his mother move to Capital City, leaving Bart without a best friend and Kirk without a son. Bart finds himself bonding with Lisa, and their relationship grows, that is, until Kirk is awarded "pity custody " of his son. Meanwhile, Homer, after getting drunk, is mistaken for a beggar, and discovers it's not a bad source of second income.
148: 3F17 (SI-717 / S07E20) Bart on the Road
With fake drivers ID in hand, have Bart will travel. In this case, Nelson, Martin and Milhouse come along for the ride when Bart hits the wide open road. Meanwhile, Lisa spends some quality time with Homer at the power plant.
278: DABF05 (SI-1305 / S13E09) Jaws Wired Shut
Homer breaks his jaw in an accident, requiring it to be wired shut for a month. His resulting inability to talk makes him a better listener, and he becomes closer to family and friends because of it. They all like the new Homer much better, but when the wires come off and Homer retains his new attitude, everyone begins to miss the old Homer's antics.
239: BABF09 (SI-1109 / S11E13) Saddlesore Galactica
Homer and Bart adopt an abandoned racehorse, named Duncan, and soon discover the ups and downs of horse racing. Guest starring Bachman Turner Overdrive (BTO) and Jim Cummings as Duncan.
306: EABF10 (SI-1410 / S14E15) C.E. D'oh.
After being rejected by a sleepy Marge on Valentine's Night, Homer enrolls in Stark Richdale's extension class Successmanship 101, which gives him the "Megatronics" tools needed to take over the SNPP - by replacing the plant's true owner, a canary, with himself, and firing Mr. Burns.
My first impressions:
And we begin with a heavyweight. All-time great? Solid #1? Somewhere in between? (My favorite thing about this process has been seeing my preconceived notions disproved. Case in point from one pool ago, I'd always assumed "Colonel Homer" was in everyone's pantheon. Apparently not.) Anyhow, this is a dead solid #1 at least in my book. Ever notice that the episodes centering on Abe are almost always top-notch?
Another good one that perhaps I like more than you do. The Bart-Lisa bonding is priceless and I'd forgotten about the subplot.
"Knoxville! Knoxville!" Ouch. Sweet bracket so far. Comparing this and Lady Bouvier's Lover to the one between 'em, Season 15 eps have been (for their sake) unluckily distributed.
Even "Jaws Wired Shut" is really sweet. Four above-average episodes so far.
...and then ugh. On "Saddlesore" were they even trying? Is Season 11 the worst one ever? It's the first one for which I'd emphatically decline to buy the full-season DVD.
Nice recovery, though, and a very deep pool. Whatever lands at #5 is royally screwed by pool depth (and I changed my mind between 4/5 two minutes after posting this). Agonizing call for the top two as well.
Preliminary rankings:
1. Lady Bouvier's Lover
2. Bart on the Road
3. C.E. D'oh
4. Jaws Wired Shut
5. Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore
6. Saddlesore Galactica
I don't think this pool is quite as deep as you do, I can give or take at least three of the episodes. Still better than some of the brackets we've had.
1. Bouvier
2. Road
3. Saddlesore. Did you forget the Land of the Jockeys?
4. Jaws Wired Shut - I _hate_ the ending
5. Milhouse - the familial bonding doesn't make up for the general lameitude otherwise
NR. C.E.D'oh - I think I've seen it once. Maybe.
Haven't seen all of these, but:
1. Bart on the Road
2. Lady Bouvier's Lover
NR. C.E. D'oh
NR. Jaws
NR. Milhouse
6. Saddlesore Galactica
1. Bart on the Road
2. Lady Bouvier's Lover
3. C.E. D'oh
4. Jaws Wired Shut
5. Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore
6. Saddlesore Galactica
Why does Bart on the road win? Simple:
"Tennesseeing is Tennebelievin'"
1. Bart on the Road
2. Lady Bouvier's Lover -- these two seem pretty simple
3. Jaws Wired Shut -- I may overrate this episode, but I remember at teh time it seemed like the first sign that the show was coming out of that awful crater seasons 11 and 12 had left.
4. C.E. D'oh
5. Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore
6. Saddlesore -- Mark, the Land of the Jockeys is *not* a positive in my book.
1. Bart on the Road
2. Lady Bouvier's Lover
3. Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore
4. Jaws Wired Shut
5. Saddlesore Galactica
NR. C.E. D'oh
The excuse scenes, is great, "He's very quiet and enjoys puzzles," "Well, are you gonna buy some wigs?" and the Al Gore doll are all hilarious but Homer's whole realization bit from "Yes, that's a real pickle" through "I will send Bart the money to fly home, then I will murder him" is better.
LBL has none of that goodness... though the Graduate bit at the end is done well.
I've seen Jaws but I prefer not to recall it... but it's better than Saddlesore.
Posted by: John at March 21, 2005 11:11 PM1. Bart On The Road -- probably one of the better Simpsons episodes. Andy Williams, Langdon Alger, sunsphere, the talking Al Gore doll -- it's got it all.
2. Lady Bouvier's Lover -- could have been #1, but it fails at the end. I was hoping Dustin Hoffman, a lawyer and his goons would show up to stop Grandpa from his unlawful imitations.
3. C.E.D'oh -- Stark Richdale was a memorable character, IMO (can't get enough of him tossing Hans out the window). Also liked the wink and a nod to where Homer stood on the plant food chain, below the carbon rod.
4. Milhouse -- if it were an early-season episode, it might have been a well-written show about family and friend bonding. Unfortunately, it's a late-season episode that was quite disturbing at times (repossessing Kirk's pants come to mind).
5. Saddlesore Galactica -- whoever enjoyed leprechaun jockeys need to sit in the corner, NOW! The epitome of JTS.
NR. Jaws
Posted by: James Dinan at March 22, 2005 05:36 PM